1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for keeping cards, said device being provided with at least one card holder in which a card can be held at at least some of its edges, whilst the card holder is rotatably connected with lids located above and under the card holder.
2. Related Art
The use of so-called credit-cards and bank cards, as well as membership cards, visiting cards and identity cards, whose size corresponds with the usual size of credit cards or bank cards, is increasing steadily. This presents the users of these cards with the problem of keeping said cards to be carried about. Of course it is desirable thereby that the cards are easy to find and to show, whilst at the same time the cards must be suitably protected against damage. The latter is especially true of cards which are provided with magnetic strips and/or other data carriers, such as chips. Because of this some distributers of cards have proceeded to hand out a pocket-shaped, hard plastic card holder for every card they issue. Such a holder is only suitable for accommodating a single card, however, and is rather voluminous in relation to the dimensions of the card itself. In practice the users cannot be expected to carry about a number of such holders, each containing a different card, therefore.
From U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,832 there is known a device for keeping cards of the above kind, wherein each card holder is formed by a U-shaped means whose two legs and the connecting piece connecting the legs have a U-shaped section for accommodating edges of the cards. The legs are resilient thereby, such that they are pressed apart when a card is moved between the legs, in order to be able to hold the card with a certain clamping force. There is a danger hereby that the card will be slightly bent under the influence of the clamping force of the legs, and will come into contact with a neighbouring card in the closed position of the device, which may lead to damage to the cards.
A further disadvantage of said known device is that the dimensions of the two lids must be such that in the closed position of the device the card holders are completely enclosed within the lids in order to keep the cards from moving out of the U-shaped card holders. This leads to a rather volumimous construction of said known device.
It is noted that from FR-A-1,190,943 there is known a device for accommodating cards whereby a separate pocket-shaped card holder is provided for each card. The pockets are thereby formed of two thin foils, which are attached together along three edges, whilst a fourth narrow edge is open for the card to be put in or taken out of the pocket in question. Putting the card in such a pocket-shaped holder is difficult and time-consuming, since, certainly after some use, the foils will tend to stick together. Furthermore the foils forming the walls of the pocket-shaped holders will easily become soiled and/or damaged.
From the French patent specification 1,257,460 (FIG. 4) there is known a holder for a label, said holder being provided with a more or less trapezoidal recess which is bounded by a circular edge, whose side directed towards the recess has a V-shaped section. Such a construction is not suitable for regularly putting in and taking out cards. From said publication no indication can be derived with regard to a solution for keeping credit cards and the like, therefore.
From U.S. Pat. No. 3,216,136 there is furthermore known a frame-shaped holder, to be secured to a chain, said holder being provided with lips which project into the opening bounded by the frame-shaped holder, for holding a plate made of plastic material in the opening, such that said plate can only be removed from the holder by means of a knife-shaped blade. The plate of plastic material is thereby intended for accommodating test data relating to the chain to which the holder is secured. Said known holder is not suitable and/or intended for combinations with other holders and lids for forming a device for keeping credit cards or the like.